Thursday, October 01, 2009

We reported earlier that BlackBerry would be delivering its Desktop Manager software for Mac in September of this year. Keen readers will note that, in fact, that was not the case, since it is now the last possible day for that software to appear, and that software isn’t coming.

It is, however, going to arrive just a little outside of the originally announced release window. On Oct. 2, which is this Friday, BlackBerry customers who are also Mac users will finally be able to enjoy equal status with their PC counterparts. About time, RIM. Be honest, you were just holding a grudge about the iPhone’s success, weren’t you?

As of this Friday, you’ll be able to use BlackBerry’s own software to sync contacts, calendar items and appointments, notes and task from sources such as iCal, Address Book, and Entourage, among others. You can also add and remove software downloaded via BlackBerry’s App World using the Desktop Manager, which is good news for people who’ve been trying to manage their fledgling collections all via the device itself.

BlackBerry users will also be able to sync playlists from iTunes, so long as the format is compatible. Last time I checked (just last week), the Tour still didn’t play back .m4a files. It recognized them and was able to retrieve track information, but it wouldn’t actually play them.

People with RIM devices will also be able to schedule and encrypt backups for their phones, and install software updates from the desktop. BlackBerry Desktop Manager is designed to run on OS X 10.5.5 and above. BlackBerry devices used with Desktop Manager for Mac must be running OS 4.2 or higher. Set your alarm for 10 a.m. PDT on Friday, because that’s when the download goes live at the official BlackBerry site.

Main Story:http://theappleblog.com/2009/09/30/blackberry-desktop-manager-hitting-the-mac-october-2/